Switching on TV causes wifi to crash

[#1]

Hi,

I recently had a new wifi router sent out to me, which works fine - except whenever I turn on my TV it immediately crashes and I lose my internet connection. My TV is a Hitachi Smart TV.

With my previous router, I sometimes had trouble keeping a stable connection while using Netflix etc on the TV - my connection speed isn't very good - but the issue was never quite this bad. Now it crashes, recovers for a minute or two, then crashes again.

This was happening even when the TV wasn't connected up to the new router (wifi always crashed before I could get it connected). I tried connecting the TV with an ethernet cable today but experienced the same problem.

I really don't use my wifi for anything particularly demanding on the bandwidth, so I'm not sure what's happening here.

Advice would be greatly appreciated!

Rebecca

[#2]

@Rmaywilks  Welcome to the Community forum.

WiFi doesn’t ‘crash’ as you put it but can buffer if you exceed the download bandwidth. If this also happens on Ethernet then it’s nothing to do with WiFi.

It sounds like that you are trying to download and watch programmes in a higher definition than your broadband connection can support. As a result the TV has to periodically stop and wait for the broadband to download some more of the programme before it can continue. This is called buffering. At the same time if the TV is using up all your available speed then there’s nothing left for your other wireless devices to be using at the same time.

The first question has to be, what is your broadband speed and is it as high as possible? If you put your phone number in here it will give you the estimated capability of your line  https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Next what speed do you actually get when you test using a computer connected to the hub using an Ethernet cable? Make sure that no other devices, especially the TV are switched on at the same time.

Also in your TV settings there might be a setting to select the quality of the picture that you stream, for example, 4K, HD, or standard definition, using a lower definition should help.

[#3]

@Rmaywilks, when you say  you lose your internet connection, do you mean that other devices lose internet not just the TV?

Do the lights on the router change?

[#4]

Hi,

Yes - all my devices lose connection, and my router displays an orangey red light.

Thanks for responding!

[#5]

Hi,

What I mean by "crash" is that all of my devices lose internet connection and my router displays a red light.

This problem occurs almost immediately after just switching the TV on, well before I attempt to actually watch anything - and it happened before my TV was even connected up to the wifi.

I'll have a look at my broadband speed - I don't think it's very fast, but I don't have the precise speed to hand.

Thanks for your response

[#6]

OK, from the way you described the problem I suspected it was more than a simple bandwidth issue. This is a strange problem!

What router do you have?

Are the router and TV physically close to each other?

Are they plugged into the same power socket?

[#7]

@Rmaywilks 

Good thought @corringham . So the TV is crashing the Hub, not the WiFi.
Are both the TV and hub on the same circuit/extension lead? If so then try plugging one of them in to a different electrical circuit.

[#8]

I have the Hub One router, and it's slightly in front of the TV on my TV cabinet. They're plugged into separate power outlets, though.

I tried moving the router to the floor, further away from the TV, a couple of weeks back, but it didn't help. There's a shelf above the TV - I'll see if moving it there does anything!

Thanks again

[#9]

We need to find out why the TV is crashing the router. There are a couple of obvious ways it could happen:

1. electrical interference - that is why moving the router away from the TV and using a different power socket may make a difference.
2. WiFi protocol bug - less likely but possible.

If moving the router away and using a different mains circuit doesn't help we'll need to investigate the Wifi. If you switch the Wifi off on the router (not sure whether the Hub One has a button to do that but there is definitely a config option to do it) then all devices including the TV will lose their Wifi connection. If you then switch the TV on does the router still crash? If so it must be electrical interference.

If it doesn't crash, then if you turn WiFi on does the router then crash?